Surrender
by AuroraTenchi
Summary: What happens to a girl whose dream of love is snatched away by love? Does she get her moment? What happens when her lost love's fiance watches her dance in the moonlight? YYxY Based on Josh Groban's 'So she Dances.'


I really do feel bad that I haven't written in a long while, for more reasons than wone. A lot of personal feelings and growing pains with school, work, and other emotional bullshit. Being in your 20's isn't always so easy, even when you can pay all the bills.

I've had this idea in my head for years. It is not a songfic, but it was inspired by 'So she Dances' by Josh Groban. The imagery came very naturally and I could not get id of it. I realize I have matured in my writing style and my tastes, and I've noticed there aren't enough stories in the puzzleshipping genre that treat Anzu with respect. For me, this story is a nice bowing out, like when Ted let Robin go so Barney could propose to her. I hope you all like it!

* * *

I loosen my tie around my neck and allow it hang loosely. I have stopped caring if I look perfectly groomed or not. I've been working hard for months and the dining hall is stifling hot. I have to get out of there!

Rehearsal dinners…

I look around to make sure no one notices as I slip out the side door. The hallway is dark and I take a deep breath. I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand and make my way into the dark of the halls. I've been here before; I'm not worried about getting lost. The castle of Duelist Kingdom is not a place I fear anymore, not even close to it. All thoughts of if I will be missed in the dining hall also disappear. As I walk, I undo the buttons on my cuffs and unbutton the top of my shirt the lies beneath my suit jacket. Formalities were never for me, and I'm not wondering why my fiancé and I did not decide on a more fun atmosphere, but family and friends convinced us that was for the reception. So here I am, in a stifling, stuffy suit until tomorrow.

My mind crosses to my fiancé momentarily, but it gives me enough time to realize that he too must have escaped the heat of the room and the pressing of information from family members all desperate with a moment with the groom before he is no longer single. I shake my head and smile, still walking down the hall. Unlike me, my fiancé was raised in a world of formal parties, proper attire, and people begging for your attention. I'm not royalty. Well, tomorrow I will be. But tonight, I'm still not comfortable with the children who ask for my autograph and even my familiar admirers looking to engage me in the typical and uncomfortable questions that precede a wedding. Frankly, he was wise to get out before me, used to it or not.

"Where are you going to live?" "Are you going to buy a house?" "Are you taking over the shop?" "How much did his cousin help you pay for this?" "When are you going to have kids?" "Oh, you should adopt from such and such country! They have the cutest babies!" "Don't let him pressure you to move to Egypt!"

My extended family has been left in the dark on the particulars of our story. The questions were to be expected. But tonight, they are all too much to handle. Our friends are lying off, but even they seem overwhelmed. I thought I had seen the worst of it at Jou and Mai's wedding, but things only appear so clear when you're on the outside looking in. I rub my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. I'm too sentimental for my own good. I was the one who thought it would be nice to have my family there so that my other self could feel like his could be there.

My fiancé and I met under the most unusual circumstances. He truly became my other self, my other half. We came together by the hands of the gods and magic, and fell in love with the passage of time. Time itself was an enemy, because for a time, he was not with me. I had my own life, my own destiny for the first time in years. I got closer to my friends, graduated from college, and even competed in my dueling tournaments. All the while, I was missing him.

His name is Atem, and it's something you still wouldn't hear me call him. He came back on the terms of the gods. He told me they had seen what a relationship he had gained with me and our friends and decreed that, as the king who never fully saw a rule seen through, he was to marry someone who is not of royal birth or noble heritage to join together the afterlives of the royals and the peasants. When he was sent away, it was because we were finally equals. Our marriage, I'm certain, will be us carrying out lour lives in a way that will show we have each seen our own lives, we have each grown into our own people. In the end, I guess we realized that it still isn't enough without each other.

First comes love, then comes marriage. He proposed by moonlight after he appeared in my room in the middle of the night. He tells me his father led him to my door. I remember smiling a little bit. He walked through a door from his world to leave me, and he walked through mine to come back.

Now, I'm walking down the hall of Pegasus' castle, where we will be married. All of our guests are staying in the various staterooms tonight, where my other self and I first truly acknowledged our togetherness. No love was confessed, I merely allowed myself to accept that the supernatural was in my life, and I had someone by my side at all times from that moment on.

His style is to right all his wrongs that he has done to me, so we are marrying on the rooftop tomorrow at sunset. But now, I am tracing the lines on the wall with my hand and take slow, leisurely steps until I am at the balcony. Beneath me is the open floor where my other self and I truly fought together for the first time. Windows are on the opposite side of the room. No lights are on, so the moon reflecting off the ocean outside the windows is the only thing casting a soft, white light on the space below me. The reception will take place. I lean against the railing of the balcony and try to let that sink in. I bite my lip and smile. I'm not a giddy child, I am a happy, content adult who has gained his two wishes made on the millennium puzzle so many years ago. I've said before my other self broadens my horizons. Now it is our horizons for the rest of our lives.

I take a big deep breath and look out beyond the water as it sparkles under the moon and stars. Suddenly, I catch movement in the corner of my eye. I look down to the large archway to my left one floor below. A tall, thin female figure walks silently and leisurely onto the open floor. Her hands are behind her back. Her walk is slow and her head moves around so it is obvious she is taking in her surroundings, much like I am. I smile. It's Anzu. So she has escaped the crowd too. She is wearing a long, flowing pink dress with spaghetti straps. Even I have to think that she looks beautiful as a sparkling silhouette created by the moonlight.

She and I never broke our friendship. She knew my other self and I were in love before, and by the time he came back, she was engaged to a New York City boy. They will be married later this year. Her dreams came true and she's accomplished everything she wanted. We are equals in this way. We have everything we ever wanted.

Well, maybe she wanted more…

I'm not going to deny I once loved her when I was a child, much in the way a child would love romantically. She loved my other self for a while, and I have never doubted that. She never told me truly how watching him kiss me, and only me, goodbye. I don't know what her true feelings are as she is on this island about to watch a man she once loved dedicate his life to someone else, much less another man. I've never resented her. She wanted what I wanted. I don't feel bad for her though. She has always been strong enough. She's too strong for pity or a handout.

Her arms are behind her back and she strolls to the middle of the open floor and stops to look out the tall windows before her. She watches the water sparkle for a moment and then begins towards the windows. I silently watch her from the balcony above, hidden by the darkness of the upper floor. God she is beautiful… During college, she grew her brown hair longer. It's a nice look for her, even if it falls to hide her blue eyes sometimes.

She pauses at the window and her head falls back. I lean against the railing, wondering what she's thinking as I suddenly realize she is listening to the faint sound of music coming from the dining hall. A waltz. Then her arms rise above her head, her palms up. I notice that as her arms moved to hypnotize me, one leg has stretched behind her. She raises her chin so that now she is looking at the high ceiling. Her movements are so fluid… I realize what she's doing to the dim sounds coming from down the hall.

She's dancing.

She swiftly moves from her statuette position and beings to move gracefully across the floor, her feet never missing a beat. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3… Her arms are up as if she is holding the shoulders of a handsome dance partner. She stops, one leg dipped behind her straight as a tree trunk, and dips back slightly. She stretches her arm out and smiles, as if she had just sprinkled some seeds onto the ground. Then she is upright again and resumes her steps. She twirls as if a partner were waiting to catch her. Her arms never leave their perfect posture. I watch in awe of her fluidity and grace. Her hair glistens in the moonlight as it flies behind her with each turn.

I give a small smile before I see another source of movement in the archway. I look to the side of the room below me and realize I'm not the only one watching her. The tall, spiky hair of the shadow gives him away. Mou Hitoi no Boku is watching her too. His arms are crossed over his chest and he's resting against the wall, simply standing and watching with the same intense crimson eyes that have looked into mine in the throughs of passion in making love. I bite my lip to keep from giving a slight chuckle. That position is all too familiar of him, but then I begin to ponder what he's thinking as he watches. After all, he saved her life, and she fell in love with him while I was in love with her. Now the three of us are alone in the stillness, only one of us aware of the other two.

I avert my eyes away from my fiancé and back to Anzu, who is still gliding across the room, her feet a steady blur that never falters. She spins, she dips, and she sways and never looks down at her feet and yet keeps the sweet rhythm of the distant music. I stand a mirrored image of my other self as he watches too. His lips curl to a subtle smile. Again, I can't look away.

My breath catches in my throat when my other self suddenly removes himself from the wall in a swell in the music. He is upon her in an instant and places himself right in the pot where her invisible partner is under her hands. She is taken aback, but I can only tell from a slight tilt of her head. He catches her in mid-turn and they complete it together, continuing the dance as one fluid movement; effortless. I feel frozen, but at the same time, it's beautiful. They move effortlessly together. He is simply filling in for her invisible partner, not hindering her at all. He moves with her as if he had been waltzing all his life.

He sways and moves with her while I stand against the railing frozen. I can't stop watching. The man I love is dancing with the woman who once loved him and wanted him. For this moment, she has him. For this moment, she has her fairytale ending. She gets superman; her knight in shining armor came for her and dances with her at the castle ball. She is living her little girl dream come true. I see a tear fall from her eye when he takes her hand and she turns to the window to dip her hand out again. I see her face look in the direction of the water beyond the window. She captured her moment.

I do not wish that was me. This is for her. This is for him. I'm not worried. I'm getting married tomorrow. This moment exists for them and I suddenly feel like an intruder. I'm still frozen. He's giving her what she dreamed of if only for a moment. Tomorrow he marries me and she goes back to preparing her own wedding with her own fiance. My moment is the rest of my life. I watch as they sway and step together. The music slows after one more musical swell and he brings her in and holds her close. The music fades to nothing as she buries her head under his chin and looks at the water. His arms are firmly around her shoulders. I can't read his expression and her face is towards the windows opposite me. I exhale after I realize I'd been holding my breath. I find my feet. I realize my hands are clenched as I remove them from the marble banister. I turn back towards the dining hall and silently return to my rehearsal dinner. Everything is in order for my wedding tomorrow, I should enjoy our party.

I straighten my tie as I walk and smooth out my shirt. It's back to the bad advice from relatives and possible drunken antics of my friends. I disappear into the dark hallway to find Jou and see if he can't stir up some trouble.

Hm, I wonder where the leftovers are…

* * *

There ya go! That's my profound piece that has taken me so long. I'm not entirely happy with it, I forced the second half of it. But I welcome any and all input! Thanks for reading!


End file.
